Iraqi Shelter Cement Piece:

One of the most controversial events of the First Gulf War was the bombing of the Amiriya Shelter by the U.S. Air Force. Built in 1984, it was a civilian shelter used during the Iran-Iraq war. Located in an upper-middle class neighborhood, the shelter was identified as a command-and-control center by U.S. intelligence sources and selected as a target during the Gulf War.

Satellite images taken in the early morning and early evening had detected military vehicles around the structure. There was camouflage paint on the roof, barb-wire and fencing around the perimeter, and communication signals emanating from the area. Analysts felt that the evidence showed the shelter was now a command-and-control center.

Two F-117 Stealth Bombers were tasked with dropping two 2000 lb. GBU-27 laser-guided bombs on the target. The first bomb hit the vent shaft and pierced 10 feet of reenforced concrete before a time-delayed fuse exploded the device. The second bomb followed the first a short time later, making its way inside the shelter and exploding. The interior of the structure became an inferno.

I was at the Al Rasheed Hotel with the rest of the international journalists permitted to be in Iraq. We were awakened and told to meet at the reception desk. Our minders (the escorts from the Iraqi Ministry of Information) were going to take us to the site of the Amiriya Shelter bombing. This was extremely unusual. As it turned out, the Iraqis knew the shelter was filled with civilians and the bombing would look bad for the U.S. Air Force. They wanted to use the incident for propaganda purposes.

When they drove us to the shelter, we didn’t know what had happened. We saw smoke pouring out of the structure. There were people outside, and fire trucks trying to battle the blaze. I remember walking over to a truck with bodies covered with blankets. I climbed up into the back of the large truck to get pictures. Then someone started to pull the blankets off so I could see the bodies. It was horrific. It was also an image that would never be shown on television. I tried to get him to leave the blankets on so I could at least get images I could show, but it was no use. I climbed back down off the truck.

As soon as I got to the ground, several people in the crowd grabbed me by my arm and started to pull me toward the door of the shelter. It soon became apparent they wanted me to go inside. Once inside the building, a fireman escorted me toward the heat and smoke. Soon I was next to the men pouring water onto the flames, with smoke and steam pouring back out everywhere. It only took a few seconds for my lens to fog up. I did the best I could to capture the scene on video before I had to retreat. It was obvious that anyone in the room when the fire broke out could not have survived.

As the crews continued to fight the flames, water filled the bottom floor of the shelter. I documented as much of the site as I could, including interviews, and we got the material back to the hotel to edit and feed. After contacting Atlanta, we were told that the U.S. was still insisting that the shelter was a command-and-control center.

Reporter Peter Arnett decided to stay at the hotel and do live shots, while he asked me to return to the shelter and see if I could find any evidence of a command-and-control center. I returned to the shelter. Our minder was still pretty shaken up, so I told him I needed more video of the site. It was fairly easy to walk away from him in the chaos, so I did.

I went from the main floor to downstairs, where most people were burned, then turned on my camera’s on-board light and waded hip-deep into the brackish water looking for any signs of military presence. I was looking for radios, communication devices, uniforms, signage and the like. I found nothing. I went as far as I could, looking everywhere I was able to go. At the time I was the only person in the area. I was able to tell Peter I could not find anything that appeared to be military during my search.

After the war, a source told CNN that the satellite photos taken at the Amiriya Shelter were, most likely, of government VIPs or high-ranking military men dropping off their families at the shelters in the evening and picking them up in the morning. It just so happened that that was the time the satellite photos were taken. The area the shelter was located in was an area where the families lived.

The shelter did have camouflage painted on the roof. The piece of cement I saved for the collection came from debris left near the opening on the roof. It was also discovered later that the communication signals might have been from an antenna located not too far from the shelter.

For whatever reason, over 400 civilians lost their lives in the bombing.

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